


i found peace in your violence

by modestroad



Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: Angst, Domestic Fluff, Drug Use, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Fix-It, Guns, Violence, post s5
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-17
Updated: 2017-11-17
Packaged: 2019-02-03 13:47:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12749556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/modestroad/pseuds/modestroad
Summary: They defeated Samaritan, but, as Shaw finds out, every war has its casualties. Root’s a cloud and Shaw doesn’t like it one bit. Then a mission goes wrong and Shaw’s about to find out some things about Root and about herself.





	i found peace in your violence

**Author's Note:**

> A huge thanks to my beta! She was kind enough to edit for me after a disappeared for a year (and a half). You're the best, Gats. 
> 
> Title is from the song, Silence by Marshmello ft. Khalid.

She must be getting old because the second she stepped inside the club and heard the music playing she realized it was going to be a very long night.

 

Lately Shaw had a lot of those. John was still recovering from burns that covered almost 40% of his body. That would teach him to play hero next time, although they all knew that he would do the exact same thing, big idiot that he was. So John helping was out of the question and that left only her, Fusco, and occasionally, Root to handle the numbers.

 

Shaw gave Root a side stare; John wasn’t the only one she had to keep an eye on. The bullet that had hit Root straight to the chest had failed to take her life, but it had taken the smile out of her eyes and it made Shaw angry that she didn’t make that bastard pay for what he did before killing him.

 

For the moment Root stood a few feet behind, feeling the music. As Shaw had learned, Root’s taste had changed after her “time” with Control. For the worse, Shaw was sure, but as she watched Root touching the wall, feeling the vibration of the bass through the wall, she finally realized why.

 

“Hey,” she touched Root’s arm and waited for the other woman to bend before yelling to her good ear, “Are you okay?”

 

Before, Root would give her a pouty look and would flirt with her, something that Shaw didn’t know she liked and anticipated it until Root stopped doing it. One more thing that made Shaw angry; after everything they were put through, after they survived a war, attempts of mind control, car chases, missiles, and a whole army after them, a simple thing as a bullet was enough to take something precious from them.

 

The worst part was that no one could tell why Root had withdrawn into herself because God knows it wasn’t the first bullet she got hit with. And…they had won! They almost lost two of their team members, but they had won the war against Samaritan. So why Root wasn’t ecstatic running errands for Machine 2.0 no one knew.

 

Shaw had been too busy running the numbers with Fusco to notice at first. John was in ICU, Root was also in ICU. Harold had been to the hospital as well, briefly, before taking the first airplane he could find to Italy. He had returned a few days later without Grace, but if Machine 2.0 was to be trusted (and She was) they have been talking through Skype a lot lately.

 

Still, it was a dick move to do and Shaw made sure to tell him so at least once every day.

 

But with Shaw busy with the numbers he had been the first to notice that something wasn’t quite right with Root. Perhaps he was feeling guilty for abandoning them when he did, after spending his days between John's and Root’s rooms. John had been in a medically induced coma so he wouldn’t suffer any pain and Harold was allowed to stay only a couple of minutes at a time. At the same time Root was also fighting for her life, but was in slightly better shape than John.

 

She was alert to her surroundings, but Harold could see that something was off. He approached Shaw a few days later showing such concern she had dismiss him at first; he was the reason why half the team was fighting for their lives and fled the country shortly afterwards without caring whether his friends could live or die, the last thing Shaw needed was for him to be a self-righteous ass. He took a step back, clearly her harsh words had hit the target, and said nothing more. He sat next to her and when Shaw had calmed down enough to ask him what he thought was wrong with Root he told her his worries.

 

Months later and Shaw still hated that he had been right.

 

Root shook her head and looking Shaw straight in the eyes said, “I can’t hear you.” She pointed at the air. “Too much noise.”

 

Shaw almost cursed; Root was using that excuse more and more lately to avoid them and it made her want to break something. Root wasn’t going to win this one though. Making sure that she still had her attention, Shaw asked once again if Root was okay using sign language and when Root nodded (taking a few extra seconds) Shaw smiled; small victory, but still a victory. She was going to make sure that Root could see her face and read her lips clearly from now on though.

 

Times like these she missed John. He liked to play hero way too often, but she could handle him just fine. Root on the other hand…

 

As if Root had read her mind she left Shaw with a, “I’m going to get us something to drink,” and disappeared into the crowd.

 

“Damn it, Root!” Shaw yelled catching the attention of few teenagers. Were they teenagers? They looked like teenagers with their faces flushed from the music and the drinks, and their eyes still shining with hope. She didn’t bother more with them. Root might be good at disappearing, but she wasn’t the only one talking with the Machine these days.

 

“She’s going to be a problem?”

 

If it was weird to have a machine speak with the voice of her partner, lover, whatever, it didn’t bother Shaw. It had been confusing at first, but she liked Root’s voice in her ear. Not that she would ever admit it.

 

_Nothing you can handle_ , came the reply soon after; the Machine could see a billion things at the same moment, but Her number one priority was Root _. Let her play a bit. She needs a night off._

 

“She could take the whole weekend off if she stayed at home.” Shaw tried to spot Root in an ocean of people. The lighting didn’t help either.  “I’m worried she’s going to ruin the mission.” She stopped. No, that wasn’t the reason why she felt the need to find Root, punch her in the face and drag her back to the safe house. She never found the time to tell Root in person, but Shaw had spent the better part of the last year and a half trapped in her head to know that the last thing in her mind was the mission.

 

“I worry about her,” she said under her breath.

 

_I worry about her too_ , came the soft reply.

 

“Oh, that’s reassuring!”

 

Shaw scanned the crowd one more time before making a bee line to the end of the club where the bar was located.

 

It was going to be a very long night.

 


End file.
